The Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Generating Plant is a dam

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 owned by Rochester Public Utilities (RPU) of Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester, Minnesota

Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on both banks of the Zumbro River, The city has a population of 106,769 according to the 2010 United States Census, making it Minnesota's third-largest city and the largest outside of the...

. Built in 1919–1920 under supervision of Hugh L. Cooper, the dam over the Zumbro River

Zumbro River

The Zumbro River is a tributary of the Mississippi River in the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota in the United States. It is about 50 mi long from the confluence of its principal tributaries and drains a watershed of 1,428 sq mi...

 creates Lake Zumbro in Mazeppa

Mazeppa, Minnesota

Mazeppa is a city in Wabasha County, Minnesota, United States, along the North Fork of the Zumbro River. The population was 842 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

 and Oronoco, Minnesota

Oronoco, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 883 people, 335 households, and 253 families residing in the city. The population density was 482.8 people per square mile . There were 343 housing units at an average density of 187.6 per square mile...

. This dam spans 440 feet (134.1 m) and is 55 feet (16.8 m) deep. Lake Zumbro covers 2000 acres (8.1 km²). Ecologist are currently studying the impact of the dam on local ecosystems, as numbers of native wildlife have steadily declined since its construction.

External links

RPU Power Sources - Dam details found on the Rochester Public Utilities site.